Writer's Date

A good friend of mine often goes to see bands she likes alone. She calls these solo outings "Artist's Dates." Being more of a wordy than an audiophile, I consider my trip to B&N yesterday a Writer's Date. Me (the mom/wife) took Me (the writer) out for several hours to browse, think and most of all, re-engage with the writing life.

It had been quite a while, so it took a bit to get re-acquainted. But after a few minutes of lolling around the bookstore with nowhere to be and nothing specific to purchase, I began to relax. And recharge. And restore. I remembered that I actually like Writer Me. She isn't that intimidating afterall.

After walking around aimlessly scanning new books, the Poetry and Parenting sections and, of course, the bargains, I/we settled down in a comfy chair with copies of People and Poets & Writers. After flipping through People to find out the latest on Elin, Tiger, Jon & Kate (holy hair extensions!) I settled in with P&W. One of my husband's professors in college used to give him back issues and I have always picked it up when I can. But, like I mentioned, it had been a while (more on two-year-old son later).

Paging through the issue, I tried to avoid the MFA ads. I'm just getting back in step with Writer Me, no need to scare her off. One of the pieces is about emerging writers of 2009. It is in one of these profiles that I discover the site ReadWritePoem (see sidebar).

I am now a member of an online poetry community, have submitted my first poem to a workshop and I'm even back on Blogger.

I consider the date a success!